


A question of faith

by anamia



Category: Iron Man (Movies)
Genre: (sort of), Canon Compliant, Cuddling & Snuggling, Friendship, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-05-08
Updated: 2013-05-08
Packaged: 2017-12-10 19:52:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/789526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anamia/pseuds/anamia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"A part of her thinks that this should get easier with time."</p><p>Pepper and Maya talk in the hotel room and do their best to offer comfort.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A question of faith

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for tumblr users [Steelplatedhearts](http://steelplatedhearts.tumblr.com) and [Theonlycheeseleft](http://theonlycheeseleft.tumblr.com), both of whom saw _Iron Man 3_ and wanted Pepper/Maya fic.

A part of her thinks that this should get easier with time. Tony made a habit of doing ludicrous things without her even before he got the suit, and since he decided to replace partying with being a professional super hero it's only gotten worse. At this point 'waiting while Tony does his level best to get himself killed without her' is probably officially part of her job description. Somehow knowing that doesn't help anything, not when she's stuck here in this hotel room with no way to contact him and no clear idea where he even is, when Happy is possibly dying and other people are _definitely_ dying and her old boss is probably working for a terrorist.

Pepper latches onto that last, clinging to the idea that there's something she can find out, something she can _do_ in order to stave off the panic. She takes a deep breath, filing her worries away in a mental filing cabinet to look at later when she can afford to process them. She can't fall apart yet. Tony needs her.  _She_ needs her. She's not going to just sit here and cry, no matter how much she wants to right now.

Sitting on the bed across from her Maya's got her knees pulled up against her chest, looking torn between shock and intense hurt. Pepper knows the feeling. She clears her throat quietly and Maya looks up, meeting her eyes. Pepper's questions about Killian die in her throat at the sight of how _lost_ the other woman looks and she reaches out instinctively to touch her. Maya frowns as Pepper's hand rests on her arm, looking down at it as though she doesn't quite understand what's happening. It's a look Pepper knows well, and the part of her brain that's marked 'dealing with people who don't want to admit how much they're hurting' engages automatically. She moves closer.

"It's going to be all right," she says, voice low and reassuring.

Maya shoots her a disbelieving look. "How?"

Pepper doesn't actually have an answer to that, not one that Maya will accept. 'It's always all right' is a pretty flimsy answer, though the more often this kind of thing happens the more likely she is to accept it as valid reasoning. Maya's not dating a super hero with no sense of self preservation though, so Pepper just squeezes her arm.

"We'll get through this," she says. "We're the good guys, right?"

Maya gives a half laugh with no humor. "Right," she says. "The good guys." She sighs. "Do you really think it works that way?"

"I do," Pepper says, and she does. It's just that 'getting through this' is in no way synonymous with 'getting through this unscathed' and Tony's not the only one who has nightmares. She doesn't tell Maya that.

Maya's quiet for a minute, then reaches out and takes Pepper's free hand. Her fingers are soft and warm, palms dry despite her fear and her stress. "I wish I could have your faith," she says. "But I'm a scientist. I'm not so good at the faith thing."

"It's not about faith," Pepper says, and the pauses. Because maybe it is. Not faith in God or in the universe or even in Tony, but faith in people. Faith that somewhere there's still good in the world even shattered trust and alien invasions and terrorist attacks.

"Isn't it?" Maya asks, echoing Pepper's thoughts.

"Faith and science don't necessarily cancel each other out," Pepper says.

Maya sighs and doesn't answer. She closes her eyes, exhaustion evident in ever line of her body. She slumps back, almost leaning on Pepper, still holding her hand tightly. Without opening them again she murmurs, "You know, if I could ever have faith in anything it would probably be in you."


End file.
